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My name is Jessica Murphy. I was born in China, raised in Tulsa, OK. and I am graduating in May 2015 with a degree in public relations and minors in Chinese and business. I hope to utilize my language skills to further strengthen and develop the Sino-American relationship. Multiple trips to China have given me insights into Chinese culture and history in my pursuit of fluency in Chinese.
This past summer I interned at Mary Kay Inc. in the Corporate Communication Department. There I helped with Mary Kay's annual Seminar, which brings over 30,000 Independent Beauty Consultants to the Dallas area for recognition, inspiration and motivation. I helped plan, organize and execute several events including a surprise flash gifting series, a partnership with Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas and the pink Cadillac's 45th birthday party. I worked closely with the Corporate Social Responsibility team, gaining knowledge and a better understanding for how the Corporate Communications team works.
I love to travel and have been to China a total of five times. Most recently, I studied abroad at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China for the fall 2013 semester. I had an incredible experience where I ate street food, rode my bike every day to school and climbed mountains with old-style Chinese temples. I visited the Great Wall, rode camels in the Gobi Desert and traveled to Shanghai over the Chinese National Holiday.
Currently I am taking Business Finance, Public Relations Publications, Mass Communications Law and Mythology and Folklore. I work in the Student Services office, helping to better assist Gaylord advisors and connect students with them. I am involved in the Gamma Phi Beta Sorority, Public Relations Student Society of America, and Lindsey + Asp, which is a completely student-run public relations and advertising agency.
I’m an avid Pinterest user, HGTV addict and cat lover. I love peanut M&M's, English history and taking walks at night. In my free time I read, cook and attempt to balance work, school and living with four other housemates.
Jessica-
ReplyDeleteMy first response is WOW! You are a very driven, ambitious, and BUSY individual. I'm sure we'll be hearing your name one day in the news! How fascinating it would be to travel to China, not once but five times. I am pea-green with envy. There are so many places I want to see..Australia, Venice, Sicily, Rome, China, Tokyo...the list is endless. You have gained such a vast amount of real world experience, you will not doubt be an asset to whichever business is lucky enough to have you on payroll.
I enjoy cooking as well. I'm an addict of Food Network and also have two cats, Stinky and Maximus.
I look forward to reading more of your posts in the future through this class. Good luck in ALL your future endeavors!
-Michele
That is a lot of stuff, man. I'm impressed. My summers tend to be filled with work, sleep, and catching up on the TV and reading I don't have time for during the year. I haven't been on Pinterest yet, but I'm already wasting too much time on Tumblr so I should probably stay away from more time-wasters. I'm a fan of HGTV too, but TNT or Food Network are really my channels of choice for background noise while I study.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of books do you read the most? I tend to read everything, but I've got a penchant for teen novels and classic (odd combination, I know). As for cooking, I like it only as much as it gets me fed. My brother is more of the foodie in the family.
I look forward to the semester and wish you luck - my old roommate graduated last year with a PR major and she loved it, so hang in there, it's apparently worth it!
Jessica,
ReplyDeleteAs the others have said you seem to be quite the busy girl! I bet interning at Mary Kay was a blast and brought you many opportunities you'll be able to use as experience later in your career. It seems like you were there for many of their important events on the public relations and communications side of the corporation. I have never been to China but after hearing about your adventures it will be on my list of places to travel. I studied abroad too and loved my experience so I know that you must have had many more adventures than just the ones you detailed in this blog post. I too love to cook and try new recipes which makes me an avid Pinterest and Instagram user as well. I can definitely relate to you there. But I must say I am not a fan of peanut M&M's.
As I probably mentioned in commenting on your favorite places post (I remember that picture of you in the Gobi Desert: WOW), I am so jealous both of your knowing Chinese and of having had all these opportunities to travel there. That is fantastic in and of itself... and I am sure it will lead you to some amazing career opportunities in the future! And I am so glad to hear you like Pinterest: that is a tool I am still using learning how to use, but I like it so much. The way it brings out the visual qualities of the information we share online is just so cool, and I really like how it lets you connect up with people who have saved the same things... maybe you can find some good ways to use it for this class, in addition to your other Pinterest pleasures! :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Jessica! I was super excited to read that you’re a public relations major because I’m a public relations major too! Your internship sounds like it was a great learning opportunity and it also sounds like you had a lot of fun being a part of it, which is great! I am also obsessed with HGTV. Love It or List It is my favorite, but sometimes I get a little too worked up when families pick the house I was rooting against in the end.
ReplyDeleteHi Jessica! You seem like a very driven woman with a lot of great accomplishments already! That internship sounds really awesome, especially since you were able to get so involved with the company. I love that you have traveled and get to visit China as well as studied abroad. I bet that was an incredible and unique experience. I'm also an avid Pinterest user and cat lover as well! I spend way too much of my free time on pinterest!
ReplyDeleteWhen you commented on my introduction you mentioned how my work load seemed intense compared to yours, but I beg to differ! You certainly sound busy yourself! Your internship with Mary Kay Inc. sounds like it was an amazing opportunity, and the amount of responsibility they allowed you to have definitely shows that you're great at what you do. I love traveling abroad, and though I have never been to China, I have been to Philippines a few times. I've always wanted to pursue the medical field since I was young, so I haven't really explored outside the typical science majors. Your post gave me insight on what PR is about, and it sounds so fun and exciting! It's awesome that you're going to graduate soon, have a great semester!
ReplyDeleteI'm so jealous of your travels! I've always wanted to see the great wall and riding camels just sounds way too fun. I don't envy those long flights though! After going to Australia 2 years ago I'm not too eager for another 16 hour flight but I'm sure it's with it. your internship sounds like an amazing experience and I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors!
ReplyDeleteHi, Jessica! Nice to meet you! Wow! I am so impressed by everything you talked about accomplishing in your post! Your passion for China as a country and the Chinese culture is really inspiring. At my church, The Wesley, we have a growing Chinese ministry, which involves Chinese conversation classes and Chinese fellowship night. If that's something you would be interested in attending, just let me know, and I can get you the details! I hope you have a fantastic semester!
ReplyDeleteHi, Jessica! It sounds like you are a very busy person! That's great that you are a PR major. Gaylord College is great. As I Professional Writing major, I love all the resources they offer. I've always wanted to travel to different countries in Asia. You experience and passion with China are very inspiring. I'd love to travel there someday.
ReplyDeleteYou sound like an incredibly smart and driven woman. PR is probably one of the hardest majors out there, and a minor in Chinese will definitely give you an advantage. You probably will be able to do a lot of traveling to other counties as well! Sounds like you have an exciting life a head of you! Can't wait to hear more of your stories!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you’ve got a lot on your plate, but all the things you’ve involved yourself in will no doubt go a long way in helping you to secure a great job. I certainly envy the resume you will have coming out of college, not to mention all the things you’ve accomplished in your life already. Good luck in finishing up your major and I hope you find an awesome job that allows you to do what you love!
ReplyDeleteHi Jessica!
ReplyDeleteWow, you have lived quite the life already! That's awesome you've been to China so many times! I'm curious about how you all moved to Tulsa Oklahoma from China out of all other places in the world! That's very awesome! You also you extremely busy and I would assume that you have the whole time management skill down pretty well. I'm jealous. I absolutely love peanut M&Ms! They are most definitely my kryptonite. It's so bad how many I can eat in one sitting. I am very awed by your ambition and drive for a successful future! You have got so much in store for you in your future!
Hi Jessica. I think it is so awesome that you were born in china. I hope that I could visit there someday. Also I think it is awesome that you had the opportunity to study abroad. Must be very different to the American culture that we are used to here. I hope that school treats you well. Good luck with school and this class.
ReplyDeleteWow I would love to travel to China! That is one of the places I would like to go, along with some other places. Do you think you may want to live there some day? I bet studying in China was a awesome experience. I have always wanted to study abroad. I love learning new cultures and seeing how people live in other countries. It is so fascinating to me. I hope you are enjoying your semester and congrats on graduating this year!
ReplyDeleteHi Jessica!
ReplyDeleteWow I think it is awesome that you have gotten to travel abroad. I am so jealous! I have been wanting to do that so bad, but I'm a little nervous and scared to actually do it. Your internship with Mary Kay sounds awesome. I would love to do something like that! It sounds like you learned a lot and got to do a lot of awesome things during the internship. I am glad you like to cook in your free time because so do I! It's fun and a good stress reliever too when I get stressed during school! Have a good semester I am looking forward to reading your stories!! :)
Hi Jessica, as you can see I am starting early on my week 15 thank yous! I just wanted to thank you for your positive comments on my storybook. I am glad you enjoyed it. I really do appreciate all your honest feed backs. Good luck with the rest of the semester.
ReplyDeleteWow it sounds like your internship this summer was a great opportunity to have! I think they are so beneficial and really allow for you to gain so much insight and grow as a young adult about to enter the workforce! I am also a huge HGTV fan, I think it is so fun to watch all of the shows and get ideas of things I can create for my own home!
ReplyDeleteWell it's nice to meet you Jessica! I loved reading a little more about you, sounds like you live an interesting life! I would love to visit China some day, my dad has been and absolutely loved it! I wish you luck with your career goals, I think that's amazing and ambitious! I am definitely a peanut M&M addict myself, but how could anyone not love them?! I wish you luck on the rest of the school year and graduating!
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